All the details we know about the upcoming ‘Top Gun’ sequel starring Tom Cruise

In June 2017, Paramount Pictures announced it would release a sequel to the 1986 hit film “Top Gun.”

The sequel, now titled “Top Gun: Maverick,” had been in development for nearly a decade, and it started shooting in May of this year.

Tom Cruise and Val Kilmer are reprising their roles from the original film, and they’re joined by a supporting cast that includes Jennifer Connelly, Miles Teller, and the recently announced additions of Jon Hamm and Ed Harris.

The film is set for release on July 12, 2019.

Here’s everything we know about “Top Gun: Maverick” so far:

Tom Cruise and Val Kilmer are reprising their roles from the original.

caption

Kilmer and Cruise on the set of 1986’s “Top Gun.”

source

Getty Images

Cruise returns in the sequel as his “Top Gun” character Pete “Maverick” Mitchell, who is now teaching young pilots how to fly at the Top Gun naval aviation school.

Deadline reported that not much is known about the sequel’s plot other than that Cruise’s character takes Miles Teller’s character, the son of Maverick’s former partner Goose, under his wing.

Cruise shared the first on-set shot of the film in May.

A post shared by Tom Cruise (@tomcruise) on May 30, 2018 at 10:40pm PDT

Variety reported that the sequel started filming in late May, after Cruise shared a photo on Instagram with the caption “Day 1.”

In the post, Cruise’s Maverick stares down a fighter jet at the end of a tarmac. It features the text “Feel the need,” in reference to the original film’s frequently quoted line, “I feel the need – the need for speed.”

Variety said the film would “explore a world of drone technology, fifth-generation fighters and the end of the era of dog-fighting.”

The film has been shooting on a US Navy aircraft carrier.

caption

The USS Abraham Lincoln.

source

Getty Images

CNN reported on Wednesday that the crew for “Top Gun: Maverick” was shooting aboard the USS Abraham Lincoln aircraft carrier off the coast of Virginia.

“The Navy is supporting one shoot this week aboard USS Abraham Lincoln, per a Production Assistance Agreement signed by Paramount and the Department of Defense,” Navy spokesperson Lt. Cdr. Daniel Day told CNN.

“Our priority will always be warfighting, and training combat-ready Naval aviation forces,” Day continued. “That being said, we believe we can support the film and simultaneously achieve training objectives.”